Camp Mystic families sue Texas officials after deadly 2025 flood

Source: USA Today

Feb. 23, 2026 Updated Feb. 24, 2026, 11:46 a.m. ET


Families of nine campers and counselors at Camp Mystic who died after destructive flooding swept across Central Texas in 2025 are suing health officials, claiming they failed to enforce an evacuation plan required by state law.

The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 23, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, accuses Texas Department of State Health Services, or DSHS, officials of deliberately failing to follow state law and depriving the victims of their "constitutional rights to life and bodily integrity." The families are seeking general and compensatory damages and “all other relief that is equitable."

The suit was filed against six DSHS officials, including Commissioner Jennifer Shuford, Timothy H. Stevenson, Jeffrey Adam Buuck, Annabelle Dillard, Lindsey Eudey, and Maricela Torres Zamarripa. The officials were involved in overseeing and inspecting Texas youth camps.

The lawsuit alleges that DSHS had licensed Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp at the edge of the Guadalupe River, despite the camp not having an evacuation plan as required by the state and camp safety rules. According to the suit, youth camps are mandated to have written emergency plans posted in each cabin.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/02/23/camp-mystic-families-lawsuit-texas-health-officials/88833914007/